The Narrow Way is a weekly column that appears in two local papers in Simpson County, Mississippi. Elder Thomas Ray Floyd is the author of all the articles.

Elder Floyd

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Hello and welcome to the Narrow Way blog! If you have any questions specific to the articles themselves, please contact Elder Floyd. For questions pertaining to the web site (layout, typographical errors, etc.) please contact Brother Wiscaver and we'll get back with you as soon as possible. Thanks!

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About the Author

Thomas Ray Floyd was born in 1953 in Simpson County, Mississippi, the son of Roy Thomas Floyd and Lina Sue Shows Floyd. Thomas Ray's mother was a member of a Primitive Baptist church, and he cut his teeth on the doctrines of distinguishing grace.

When he was a small boy, his father was converted to Christ and became a member of a Missionary Baptist Church. Thomas Ray joined the church of his father when he was 13 years old, and thought of himself as a Christian. The doctrines of grace that he had heard as a child continued to be precious to him and when he became an adult, he joined a Primitive Baptist Church. When he was 27, Thomas Ray made his first effort to preach the gospel in public and was ordained to the full functions of the ministry in 1985. In 1986 he was convinced under the preaching of Rolfe Barnard (by tapes from Mt. Olive Tape Library), the written sermons of Spurgeon, and the ministry of Elder Zack Guess that he had been a false professor and cried out in agony of soul to the Lord Jesus Christ to have mercy and truly save him. And He did! Floyd then began to preach the gospel as he had been taught of the Lord.

Floyd has pastored churches in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee and until recently was pastor of a church plant known as "Particular Baptist Fellowship." He and his wife Brenda presently attend Zion Baptist Church at Polkville, Mississippi, pastored by Elder Glen Hopkins. The pulpit ministry of Zion Baptist Church can be heard at Sermonaudio.com.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

The Lord's Prayer

(Article for publication week of 10-8- AD 2015)

"Father, I
will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they
may behold my glory, which Thou hast given me: for Thou lovedst Me before the
foundation of the world" (John 17:24).

Our text is found in the Real
Lord's Prayer. The prayer the Lord taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9-13 should
actually be called "the Disciple's Prayer", or "The Model
Prayer." What we call "The Lord's Prayer" is not a prescribed
prayer, per se, but rather an outline of prayer to help us in our prayer life.
It is a prayer for us to pray, not a prayer that our Lord Himself needed to
pray, or ever did pray. We know this because of one expression- "forgive
us our debts" ( or sins, i.e. Luke 11:4). Our Lord Jesus Christ never had
to ask for forgiveness of sin, for He was without sin, and could not sin
(Hebrews 7:26). The 17th chapter of John is truly "The Lord's
Prayer," for here we have the Eternal Son praying to the Eternal Father.
Our text is proof of what we call the Doctrine of the Trinity, for here we see the
Second Person of the Trinity praying to the First Person of the Trinity. Our
Great God is One in Three, and Three in One (I John 5:7) and we see that
plainly in this text. John 17 is a death blow to both Arianism and Modalism.

The seventeenth
chapter of John is our Lord's High Priestly prayer for His people. Our Great
High Priest continues to intercede for all those for whom He died (Romans 8:34;
Hebrews 7:25). After he died for our sins, He was laid in the grave, but He
arose the third Day, and after He had shown Himself alive after many infallible
proofs, He ascended back to the right hand of His Father where he continues to
plead our cause in the high court of heaven. The Levitical priesthood has been
abrogated and there will never be any more need for it. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the only Person in the universe who is a priest. Any man (or woman) who
claims to be a priest is an imposter and should be rejected. There is only one
Mediator between God and man, the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ (I Timothy
2:5). It will thrill your soul (if you are born again) to go and read the 17th
chapter of John, and see what wonderful things our Great High Priest prayed for
His people.

Now, our text
here in John 17:24 tells us one of the glorious things that Christ prayed for
His people-- that we may be with Him! Oh! I can hardly contain myself as I
write these words! We shall be with Christ when this life is over! That my
friends is what heaven and the glory world is all about. As one of the Puritans
put it, hell would be heaven if Christ were there! We shall be with Christ to
behold His glory. We see that glory now by faith, but the day is coming when
faith shall be changed to sight and all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ
shall see Him in all His glory. That glory is the same glory as that of the
Father, for Christ is indeed one with His Father (John 17:5; 1:14), and is of
the same essence as the Father. To see Christ will be to see God, for Christ is
both God and Man (John 14:9). (See also II Corinthians 4:6). All the fullness
of the Godhead dwells bodily in the Lord Jesus Christ(Colossians 2:9). So when
we are glorified we shall see God as our Lord promised in Matthew 5:8. Dear
Reader, do you long to see the Lord Jesus Christ? If you are a child of God I
know you do.

Rest assured that God the Father always hears the
prayers of His Eternal Son (John 11;42). You can be sure that this is one
prayer that will be answered. Not one that God the Father gave to His Son in
eternal election shall fail to be with Christ. Christ will not lose any for
whom He died. All those whose names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life
before the foundation of the world shall surely be with Christ, eternally
beholding His glory.